Beyond the rocks
by Charlieexo
Summary: Emma finds herself back in the Enchanted Forest with only one way to get out - Ariel. There are conditions to their agreement and soon, Ariel finds herself in Storybrooke with one person she wishes she could escape from. Hook/Ariel story.
1. Chapter 1

"The only way to get home is to go and see the Sea Witch."

"Who?"

Emma found herself stuck in the enchanted forest once again. She hadn't planned on it but she had somehow managed to get on Regina's last nerve regarding Henry and she had been sent to the forest which she would have rather forgotten about. She had wandered aimlessly for at least weak before she had literally run into Mulan and Aurora whilst running from some creature who thought she looked like an easy lunch.

"The Sea Witch," Mulan repeated, "By my reckoning it's your only choice considering Hook and his ship are already in Storybrooke and Cora, who was the only one who could open a portal is dead."

"Won't she make me sell my soul before she helps me though?" Emma asked.

"Probably," Aurora spoke bluntly, "But Mulan is a pretty good negotiator."

The two of them began walking and Emma could do nothing but follow behind them. She had no desire to sell anything to the Sea Witch but if it meant being able to get back to Storybrooke and ultimately, back to Henry, she would have to do it. Emma had no doubt that Regina would be trying to worm her way into Henry's life – she could only hope that Mary-Margaret and David were doing everything they could to protect him.

The walk didn't take very long, maybe an hour or so, and Emma was sure that even if the journey to the cove they know found themselves in was a waste of time, the beauty of the place would surely make up for that. Emma thought it looked like an oversized rock pool – the water glistened in the sun and it seemed as though there was no life at all in the water. The cove was covered with lush green trees and ivy had grown along the tops of the highest rocks.

"What do we do now?" Emma asked as Mulan kicked at the dry, dusty ground.

Mulan bent down and picked up a sizeable looking rock, "You throw this into the water."

Emma took hold of the rock hesitantly but threw it in all the same. The rock made ripples across the whole of the water and as they settled, Emma could make out a white figure in the water. The figure rose from the water and leaned against some of the rocks by Emma's feet. The woman in front of her was nothing like what Emma had imagined. She had long blonde hair and pale skin and was beautiful by any account – Emma had imagined a greener looking creature.

"To what do I owe this great pleasure." The woman spoke softly.

Everyone looked at Emma expectantly, "I need to get home." She said simply.

"I can see you are not from our world, Child," The woman smiled, "Fear not, for I can help you, for a small price."

"Listen lady, I need to get back to Storybrooke to get to my son before the evil queen does, I am not paying you anything."

The woman looked taken back by Emma's brashness, "Very well, but first I must summon someone to help you get through the portal and you can see if she will help you without a price."

The woman disappeared and for a moment Emma felt hopeful that she would be able to get home without giving someone her voice or something equally as stupid as that. As she waited though, that hope began to diminish, she was sure that no-one was going to help her. She waited so long she gave up on standing and sat down.

Mulan had stood up to stretch her legs and took a quick look into the pool of water, "Look!" She shouted, "I think I see something."

Emma scrambled to her feet and lo-and-behold there was a flash of dark blue and red under the water. A face appeared from the water with flame red hair and it took Emma a moment to register what she saw before her. _A mermaid! _If she had thought the witch had been beautiful, this mermaid broke all expectations. She knew they were supposed to be beautiful, but Emma didn't even swing toward women and she couldn't deny that the mermaid in front of her was the most beautiful person she'd seen. Her face was pale but there were clusters of blue scales on her right temple and left jaw bone. Her breasts were covered with the same blue scales and her tale was simply majestic. It was large, bigger than Emma had expected and was the same colour as the rest of the scales, although these glinted in the sunlight, giving them a lighter appearance than the rest on the mermaid's body.

"What do you need help with?" The mermaid spoke, her voice much bolder and rougher than the Witch before her.

"I need to get home." Emma spoke, practically begging.

"Do you have payment?" The mermaid asked, Emma's stomach sank.

"No," Emma sighed, "No, I don't."

"Then I cannot help you." The mermaid spoke, turning to swim back to where she came from.

"Please," Emma spoke, the mermaid turned around, "Please, I need to get home to my son, he's in real danger, I'm sure of it and my parents will be worried sick about me."

The mermaid's face softened a little at the mention of a family, "Where is home?" She asked.

"Storybrooke."

Emma noticed a complete change in the mermaid, she smiled a little and pushed herself up onto a rock in front of Emma, showing the curves of her body.

"I'll help you get home on one condition," The mermaid spoke, "You take me with you."

Emma was about ready to do anything to get home, "Yes, okay, whatever, just as long as you get me home to my son."

The mermaid smiled and reached out a hand, Emma turned to Mulan and Aurora who both gave her hugs. She turned to the mermaid took the offered hand, "Close your eyes," The mermaid said, "It'll be easier for you that way."

Emma did as she was told and closed her eyes tightly, she felt a sudden tug on her arm which is the last thing she remembered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to all the readers who have checked this out so far! I want to apologise for how bad these first couple of chapters are - I'm really bad at setting the scene, but I promise you when it gets going properly it will be much better :) ALSO, I'm sorry for the confusion, for those of you who thought this was Captain Swan, I apologise - I'm new to the site and didn't realise the character tags indicated pairings - I just thought it was for the most prominant characters. Enjoy! :) **

* * *

Emma woke with a slight headache not knowing where she was. She sat up and saw that she was led on the ground of the harbour in Storybrooke. She attempted to sit up but the pain in her head increased.

"I thought you weren't going to wake up," Emma turned her head and came face-to-face, or face-to-shoe, with a pair of bright purple boots, "Thought I was going to have to give you mouth to mouth or something."

"How am I dry?" Emma groaned, sitting up slightly, "And how are you walking with legs?"

"Magic," The mermaid said, she offered her hand which Emma took to pull herself up, "I'm Ariel by the way."

"I probably could have guessed that," Emma said, motioning to the colour of her hair, "Thank you for getting me home."

"It's not a problem," Ariel smiled, "Couldn't leave the saviour stranded in the Enchanted Forest now, could I?"

"You know who I am?" Emma asked, brushing her jeans off.

"Of course I know who you are," Ariel replied, "There were stories in the lagoon as to whether you actually existed though."

"And you were going to leave me there?" Emma was slightly furious for a moment.

"I had to be sure it was you, I've been hoping something would happen to make you come to me – I've needed to come to Storybrooke for a while."

"Why?" Emma asked.

"You'll see in due time, I'm sure." Ariel smirked.

"Do you have a place to stay?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I got myself a room at Granny's."

"Well, why don't you come with me to meet my parents?" Emma offered, "They'll feed you I'm sure, it's the least they could do."

Ariel nodded and followed Emma – she was eager to get from the harbour, there was something quite eerie about the place, even though it was full of ships. She felt like there was something that didn't quite meet the eye and in a place where she didn't know anything, it was quite an unnerving feeling to have.

Emma's apartment wasn't that far from the harbour. Ariel shifted from foot to foot as Emma knocked on the front door and waited. As soon as the door opened there was a high-pitched screech and Emma was immediately pulled into a hug by a small woman who Ariel knew as Snow White. She waited a moment before a taller man came to join and hugged Emma along with Snow White. _Prince Charming. _Finally, a small boy came running to the front door and Emma let go of her parents to hug the small boy. _So this must be her son. _

"How did you get home?" Snow asked, holding Emma's face, inspecting to make sure she wasn't hurt, "We'd lost all hope, Mr Gold wouldn't help us and we'd been busy protecting Henry that we thought we'd lost all hope of seeing you again."

"A mermaid helped me home." Emma smiled and stepped aside, revealing Ariel to her family, Snow and Charming looked less than impressed but Henry seemed fascinated.

"You didn't agree to anything she wanted, did you?" Snow enquired, glaring at Ariel.

"I didn't ask for anything."

"Mermaid's always ask for something." Charming stated.

"All I wanted was to come here to settle some unfinished business, by the sounds of it, you might need my help, so I would get down off that high horse of yours, _Charming." _

"What help could a mermaid possibly give to us?" Snow asked.

"Wait and see." Was the simple response before Ariel turned on her heel and walked away.

* * *

Ariel had been back to the harbour to collect a glass of water and was currently knelt in a dirty alley with the cup of water in front of her.

"Come on," She whispered to herself, "You can do this."

She stood up and took a few steps back from the cup and raised out her left arm. She opened her hand as far as it would go and tightened. All of a sudden, the water in the glass in front of her turned to ice. Ariel smiled to herself, but wasn't done, still tightening her hand, she closed it a little bit and almost immediately the water turned from ice to boiling water. Finally, she dropped her hand to let the water cool a little, before bring her arm back up again, her hand was in the same position as it was when she boiled the water, just a little more loose, she twisted her hand a little and all of a sudden, some of the water in the cup lifted up. Ariel pushed the water into the wall and picked up her glass. Thoroughly satisfied that this time, she would win.

* * *

Ariel was sitting on her bed in her room at Granny's when there was a loud knock on the door. She sighed, but got up anyway. Opening the door to find Emma and Henry, who was clutching a large book in his arms.

"He was adamant that he wanted to talk to you," Emma spoke, her eyes slightly apologetic, "We brought food though!" She held up two paper bags.

Ariel smiled slightly and moved to let the two in. Henry immediately perched himself at the end of the bed while Emma put the food bags on the table and began unpacking what she'd bought.

"So, you're a mermaid, huh?" Henry asked, looking at her.

"That I am," She smiled, sitting next to him, "What's this?" She asked, pointing to his book.

"That's what I'm here to ask about," He said, "This is my book of fairy tales, everyone in this town is in here, apart from you, why is that? I thought everyone knew about The Little Mermaid."

"Everything _thinks _they know about The Little Mermaid," She began, "My story is a bit more complicated than people seem to think and one day, I will tell you, but for now, let's eat!"


End file.
